d
is apt to make this part project above the edges of the board. This is
a great trouble, especially at the tail, where, if the head-cap
projects beyond the boards, the whole weight of the book rests on it,
and it is certain to be rubbed off when the book is put on the shelf.

[Illustration: FIG. 59.]

The method of paring with a French knife (fig. 60, A)--the only form
of knife in use by binders that gives sufficient control over the
leather--is shown at fig. 59. To use this knife properly, practice is
required. The main thing to learn is that the knife must be used quite
flat, and made to cut by having a very slight burr on the under
side. This burr is got by rubbing the knife on the lithographic stone
on which the paring is done. The handle of the knife should never be
raised to such a height above the surface of the stone that it is
possible to get the under fingers of the right hand over the edge of
the stone. Another form of knife suitable for paring the edges of
leather is shown at fig. 60, B.

[Illustration: FIG. 60.]

To test if the leather has been sufficiently pared, fold it over where
the edge of the board will come, and run the finger along the folded
leather. If the paring has been done properly it will feel quite even
the whole length of the fold; but if there are any irregularities,
they will be very apparent, and the paring must be gone over again
till they have disappeared. When even, the book must be again laid on
the leather with the boards open, and a pencil line drawn round as
before. If there are leather joints they will have been pared before
the book was sewn, and care must be taken in paring the turn-in of the
cover that it is of the same thickness as the leather joint, or it
will be impossible to make a neat mitre at the back corners.

COVERING

Before covering, the book must be looked at to see that the bands are
quite square and at equal distances apart. Any slight errors in this
respect can be corrected by holding the book in the lying press
between backing boards and gently tapping the bands from one side or
the other with a piece of wood struck with a hammer. This is best done
when the back is cleaned off, but by damping the bands slightly it may
be done just before covering. The squares must be looked to, and the
edges of the board well rubbed with a folder, or tapped with a hammer,
to remove any burr that may have been caused by the plough